Ken & Connie's Personal Journal Pages

WELCOME TO OUR PERSONAL RETIREMENT JOURNAL. I USE THIS PAGE TO CREATE AND SHARE POSTS of PHOTOS, TRAVELS AND EVENTS IN OUR DAILY LIVES WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS. 

Journal Entry for Friday, June 1st

Shut Down I am sorry to say that as of today I will no longer be supporting this site. Due to the apparent lack of interest shown by family members, it no longer seems to be worth my time and effort to maintain it and to keep it properly updated.

Journal Entry for Tuesday, May 1st

My NEW Blog Site Today I worked on a project that has been on my to-do list for a long time, specifically, create a separate Blog site for posting all of my “art” related projects, thereby getting them off of my Photo Gallery site. Even though I was able to ‘copy’ over many of the individual pages, I still had to design the sight from scratch. I’m sure it may require some “tweaking” over time, however, I was relatively pleased with the day’s effort. Check it out here … Ken's Eco-Art Gallery. Send me an email and let me know what you think?  Any ideas or suggestions for improvements?

Journal Entry for Sunday, Apr 8th

Easter Sunday! Happy Easter to ya all. Well, here it is Easter already, a true sign of Spring. Where did the winter go? We decided not to go out to eat today and just stayed home and watched the final round of the Masters golf tournament. At the start of the tournament, I cooked us a huge Easter Sunday  brunch that included onion, cheese and pepper omelets, bacon, English muffins, coffee cake, orange juice and fresh strawberries. What a day it was. Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa made a 254-yard double eagle at the 575-yard par-5 second hole, only to end up loosing to Bubba Watson in a two hole sudden death playoff. On the second playoff hole he was 25 yards into the woods and couldn’t even see the green and played an unbelievable hooking shot that landed on the green , about 20 feet from the cup. He won it with a two stroke par put. Watson is a shaggy haired, self-taught, left-handed golfer from Bagdad, Florida, who’s gained fans for his everyman persona and willingness to show his emotions on the course. Bubba owns the General Lee, the brightly painted 1969 Dodge Charger that was featured in the 1979-85 television show “The Dukes of Hazzard.” The car, with the colors of the Confederacy on its roof and racing number “01” on the doors – was purchased at auction by Watson in January for $110,000.  Guess he can really afford it now; he received $1.44 million for winning the Masters. It was a very enjoyable day of golf. We talked with my mother in Tahoe who was over at my brother Tom's house with his daughter Kristin, my sister Bonnie and his new roommate Rick for a ham Easter dinner with all the fixings. For our dinner I made a fresh fruit Waldorf salad with chopped apples, pears, an orange, celery, walnuts and salad dressing, and a hint of lemon juice; served with Triscuits and Saltines. Later we had a banana sundae over a movie we had prerecorded on the DVR before calling it a day and heading off to bed.

Journal Entry for Saturday, Apr 7th

Foiled Dinner Plans Today, after the 3rd round of the Masters golf tournament, we headed over to the “M” Resort to have their new Saturday night “all you can eat Lobster & Champagne” buffet. Disappointed! This was going to be my 3rd special "dinner out" birthday present. That’s right, all you can eat. Lobster baked stuffed with crab, steamed crab legs, shrimp, lobster bisque, and about 150 other selections. It’s no wonder this has been voted the best buffet in Vegas. Oh well! It was so popular, that when we got there both two lines (the regular line and the handicapped/line pass line) were so long, that it would have been about a 2-1/2 hour wait, even with our line pass. After saying “no way”, we went over to the deli and had tuna sandwiches and French fries; not really the ‘seafood’ dinner we had hoped for. Oh well, there is always next week, we’ll just go earlier.

Journal Entry for Friday, Apr 6th

The Millennium-series by Stieg Larsson* Today I finished reading the final book of Stieg Larsson’s detective trilogy about Lisbeth Salander, “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest”. As the result of his sudden death in 2004 at the age of 50 from a heart attack, this and the previous two books, “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” and “The Girl Who Played With Fire”, were all published posthumously. As of today they have sold more than 25 million copies, and he was the second bestselling author in the world in 2008. We really enjoyed Ronney Mara in her role as Lisbeth Salander in David Finchers American movie version of "The girl with the dragon tattoo" and can’t wait for her to do the next two movies. Last month we watched the Swedish version of “The girl who played with fire” and have just ordered the Swedish movie version of the last book that I just finished from Netflix. In the Swedish movies based on the Millennium trilogy, Lisbeth Salander is played by Swedish actress Noomi Rapace. Even though she is quite good, I think we liked Ronney Mara better. I thought the first book started a little slow, however, once it "got going" I couldn't put it down. Within minutes of finishing it I downloaded the next one, "The Girl Who Played With Fire'. This one was better than the first one. The last book was equally as good. The only thing I found difficult was trying to pronounce, remember and keep straight all of the Swedish names of the characters, streets and locations.  I  thoroughly enjoyed all three of these books and highly recommend them to anyone who hasn’t read them. * Footnote - Stieg left no written will, and according to Swedish law, Stieg's full estate was inherited by his father and brother. This sparked a dispute between them and Stieg's life-long companion Eva Gabrielsson, who was left with nothing. The situation has been complicated by the fact that Eva controls the script for the 4th book in the Millennium series.

Journal Entry for Thursday, April 5th

Claim Jumper Tilapia Bianca Today after my hike, I showered and took Connie to Claim Jumper’s for dinner. This is a great restaurant; we even took Jim Herring here on his last visit in February. Just two blocks up the street from us, this excellent restaurant is part of the Landry’s restaurant chain, and because I am a member of their Landry’s Dining Club, they sent me a $25 gift certificate for my birthday. Connie ordered the homemade New England clam chowder for an appetizer and I got the Southwest Eggrolls that were filled with  fresh chicken, cilantro, black beans, pasilla and bell peppers fried golden with sweet and spicy and salsa ranch dipping sauces. I only ate half of it. For the main entrée we both had the Tilapia Bianca, a pan seared tilapia topped with artichoke hearts and sautéed shrimp in a sherry cream sauce. Both were so big we were only able to eat half of it. We boxed the leftovers and had them for lunch the next day.

Journal Entry for Monday, Apr 2nd

Another Year Older Today was my 66th birthday and I can remember the days when I used to say, “It’s just another day and I don’t feel any different.” Well, I think those day are long gone. As I’m sure is the case with many of you out there, each passing year seems to bring more aches and pains, reminding us about how much older we are getting. Obviously, it’s better than the alternative, so we do not dwell, but just move on. I want to thank all those who sent birthday wishes. This morning Connie and I went out for a nice breakfast brunch. As we are trying to watch what we eat, we make it a habit to only go out to eat once a day. Because I have birthday coupons for free entrees from 7 different restaurants, some worth up to $35 each, we will probably be going out for dinner several times during the month. In the meantime, our property maintenance man came in to make some needed fixes on one of our shower doors, toilets, and some faucets. He also replaced the burner elements on our kitchen stove. They are very good here at keeping everything in good shape.  I then went to my garage and made an appointment to drop the car off for some needed work tomorrow. Betsy, our 1992 Cadillac, turns twenty this year - 185,000 and still ticking. But like us she needs more and more attention to keep running right. It was then off to the store to do a little grocery shopping and finally a stop at the library to return books and pick up some new ones for Connie. After the library we stopped at Green Valley Ranch Casino up the street for a little gambling. No luck today, but I actually got an early birthday present yesterday by hitting a $235 jackpot while playing in the poker room.  Came home, fielded a few more “birthday” calls, made a fresh fruit salad for dinner, watched the Country Music Awards off the DVR, and then headed off to be. All in all it seemed like just another day.

Journal Entry for Thursday, Mar 15th

Bidding Farewell (Click to enlarge) Though it seemed like a short visit, combined with their earlier stop three weeks ago, we got to spend nearly a week with Bonnie and Paul. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Paul is leaving Monday for Hawaii to stay with his sister for a while, they could have stayed longer. Oh well, we were glad to have the time we were able to spend with them. I made them one last breakfast before bidding them goodbye and a safe journey back to Tahoe. Oh yea, that was the other thing; there was a big snowstorm coming into Tahoe late this evening and they wanted to get back and over the mountain before it hit. As we know, having made this trip several times over the past nine years, it’s a long, uneventful drive and were both happy to get a text message around 7:00 saying that they arrived home safely.

Journal Entry for Wednesday, Mar 14th

Valley of Fire State Park Bonnie & I at Rogers Spring After being up until nearly midnight talking again, we all slept in and had another late breakfast. Being a gorgeous sunny day, we decided to drive them to the Valley of Fire State Park near Overton for an afternoon of picture taking. We took Lake Mead’s North Shore Road up and back which provided numerous sightseeing and picture taking opportunities. They were both amazed at the beautiful and colorful mountains and geology along the way and snapped hundreds of pictures. Along the way we stopped at the Redstone Loop Trail and Rogers Spring. We then spent several hours having a picnic lunch and taking pictures inside the Valley of Fire State Park.  By late afternoon we had only taken them through 1/2 of the park, yet decided it was time to head back home. Paul and I played with pictures on my computer while Connie and Bonnie sat in the living room and chatted. I then made us dinner.  We then relaxed over the final pre-recorded episode of “Castle” and banana splits. By the time we headed off to bed it had been a long day and we were all, once again, exhausted.

Journal Entry for Tuesday, Mar 13th

Bonnie and Paul's Arrival Linksys Wireless-G Router After a long grueling day of driving, Bonnie and Paul arrived exhausted around 9:30 last night. We talked for an hour and a half, letting them fill us in on their two weeks in Kansas vising her son Christian and his wife Christina and their visit to her friends John and Mary in Arizona on their return trip. Even though everyone was tired, it provided them a chance to “wind down” from the day’s long drive. Today, after letting everyone sleep in until mid-morning, I cooked everyone a big made to order breakfast. By the time we finished cleanup of the breakfast dishes it was nearly noon. They both felt that they would rather stay home and rest versus going out, so Connie and Bonnie spent the day conversing in the living room while Paul and I spent the day in the den discussing photography “stuff” and trying to hook up a Linksys Wireless-G broadband router that someone had given me some time back. The first thing we realized was that he had not given me the units power adapter, so we had to make a trip to Radio Shack and spend $26 on a new adaptor before we could even get started. From here everything seemed to go downhill. Even though we got is working, we had trouble configuring it and making it password protected. When we finally called it quits, I made us dinner. After dinner we sat down and watch two episodes of Castle that we had recorded and saved for them. Had some ice cream for dessert and finally headed off to bed once again.

Journal Entry for Sunday, Mar 11th

Young Artist’s Concert Today was another beautiful day, clear and sunny and near 80 degrees. Because it was so nice we decided to head up to the Henderson Pavilion to see and listen to the Henderson Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artist’s Concert. They have one of these every year, featuring some of the most gifted children from the Las Vegas area, ranging in age from 12 to 18. In addition to a Mozart overture by the symphony, we heard three violin concertos, a trumpet concerto, a flute concerto, and a really outstanding piano concerto. Having won all kinds of awards, several of these kids have been performing since they were three and four years old; one has been in an orchestra since she was seven. As usual, it was excellent.

Journal Entry for Saturday, Mar 10th

NASCAR Sam’s Town 300 Well the last update we got from my sister indicated that they would probably be her sometime on Monday, but that things could change. On the way back from visiting her son Christian in Kansas, they stopped to visit John and Mary, some longtime friends of hers in Tucson Arizona. While they were there, Mary had a stroke sometime today. Good heavens! We hope she's all right. Connie and I sat around most of the day watching golf and the NASCAR Sam's Town 300 that was being held today at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The third stop of the Nationwide series, the Sam's Town 300 features a 1.5 mile track with 200 laps and 300 miles.Yesterday, while playing poker at GVR, I passed up four free tickets. Even though the weather was great making it a beautiful day for a race, the parking and the traffic getting there and back is always horrible. It was a pretty good race with no real serious accidents. There were a total of 43 drivers competing for the chance to get part of the total purse that has been valued at over $1 million. Car number 6, a Ford Mustang, driven by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., took first place for $107,863.

Journal Entry for Saturday, Mar 3rd

Out With The Old – In With The New Picked up Jim Herring this morning in preparation for taking him to the airport later this afternoon for his return home. Instead of making a late brunch, we sat around talking for a while and finally decided to go up the street to the Elephant Bar where we treated Jim to a nice lunch before heading to the airport. Jim and Connie both had the Chicken Marsala, while I tried their new Caprese Style Chicken PIccata. Both meals were very good. It was a nice leisurely lunch and a nice relaxing way to end his visit. We dropped Connie off at home and then headed to the airport. We stayed home the rest of the day and all day Sunday waiting to hear from my sister, who was suppose to be arriving sometime next week.

Journal Entry for Thursday, Mar 1st

Clark County Wetlands Park Today Jim came over around noon and we went to our favorite ‘sub’ shop, East Coast Eats, and all had their huge Steak Bomb. It was actually too much food. Jim and I then decided to go over to the Clark County Wetland Park and see what was available. We were able to see some turtles, a white egret, hawk, and nearly a half-dozen Desert Cottentail Rabits. Unfortunately, the only thing I was able to capture were the turtles sunning on a rock. Still in the final stages of construction, this 210-acre nature preserve, bordering the Las Vegas Wash, makes for a quite enjoyable two to three hour hike. Read more here ... Clark County Wetlands Park. After our hike, we drove to the Stratosphere Tower on the Strip to take advantage of the 2-1 Martinis and appetizers at the 107 Lounge located on the 107th floor. We both had a vodka Appletini with our appetizers of Calamari and a delicious cheese and fruit plate. For dessert we enjoyed a delicious Chocolate Martini. Made with Godiva® chocolate liqueur, creme de cacao, Smirnoff® vodka and half-and-half, it was outstanding. Never having experienced a martini before, Jim thought they were both absolutely delicious. From here we went to the Wynn Casino and had another Appletini out on the Parasol Up bar’s patio overlooking the Lake of Dreams. The free Lake of Dreams Show spans over 20,000 square feet and employs thousands of underwater LED fixtures and props to construct a show that combines color and water with remarkable results. Though the one we saw was not the better of the several that are offered, it was still a very relaxing way to end out day.

Journal Entry for Tuesday, Feb 28th

Atomic Testing Museum Jim came over this morning and we all headed out to Mimi’s Café for a huge late breakfast. Both Jim and Connie had the new Cinnamon Brioche French Toast  with eggs and bacon. I had the three egg Mardi Gras Omelette that was filled with chunks of ham, sausage, bacon, cajun sausage, tomatoes and cheddar cheese. We also shared a hot banana bread. After breakfast Jim and I headed down to the Atomic Testing Museum, one of 37 national museums affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution.  This is a repository for one of the most comprehensive collections of nuclear history relating to atomic testing, the Nevada Test Site, the Cold War, and nuclear and radiological science and technology. The museum covers the period from the first test at NTS on January 27, 1951, to the present. Among its exhibits covering American nuclear history is a "Ground Zero Theater" which simulates the experience of observing an atmospheric nuclear test. Other exhibits include Geiger counters, radio badges and radiation testing devices, Native American artifacts from around the test area and equipment used in testing the devices. There are several videos and interactive exhibits on a variety of related topics. We both found it quite interesting; our self guided tour lasted over two hours. Click here to read more …http://www.nationalatomictestingmuseum.org/default.aspx.  Next we drove over to the “Year of the Dragon” exhibit at the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Jim found it quite interesting and colorful. I still think that the mosaic mirror tiled Chinese horse situated just below the Dale Chihuly ceiling sculpture in the lobby is worth the entire trip. I recently dedicated a post to these two sculpture on my photo gallery site. Check it out! Mosaic Mirror Tiled Chinese Horse. We then traveled back to my place, picked up Connie and went to Bucca di Beppe Peppo’s for dinner, Jim’s treat. This Italian restaurant is know for its huge portions. As full at we were, we just had to order the Colossal Brownie Sundae – filled with twelve decadent chunks of freshly-baked brownies layered with six scoops of vanilla bean and chocolate ice cream, topped with caramel and chocolate sauces then buried in mounds of whipped cream and a cherry. Yea, I know that sounds over the top, but Jim is on vacation after all! Check it out here … The Colossal Brownie Sundae.

Journal Entry for Sunday, Feb 26th

Historic Tunnel Trail Hike Jim and I headed over to trailhead for the Railroad Tunnel Trail at Lake Mead. Though a bit cooler than yesterday, It was still a beautiful hiking day. We spent the entire afternoon doing a five-mile out and back hike along this wonderfully scenic trail. Once used during the building of the Hoover Dam, the trail follows an old railroad bed through a series of five tunnels on its way to the dam. Click here to go to my photography site where you can find pictures and learn more about this historic trail… The Historic Railroad Tunnel Trail. Though we were both hurting a little at the end, I think Jim enjoyed and got some great pictures. After the hike we drove down towards the dam area to take a walk out on the relatively new dam by-pass bridge. Though Jim and I were one of the first cars to pass over this bridge when it opened back on October 16th, 2010, on a return visit from the Skywalk at Grand Canyon West, he had not yet had the opportunity to walk out on it. Providing some awesome down river views of the dam, this engineering marvel has become a must stop for anyone visiting the Las Vegas area. Click here to go to my photography site and learn more about this amazing bridge… Mike O'Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. After coming home and telling about our hiking experience and showing Connie all of our pictures, Jim called it a day and headed back to his house while Connie and I settled down with some lemon cake and whipped cream for dinner over the 2012 Oscars.

Journal Entry for Saturday, Feb 25th

Cocktails by the Pool Having picked our friend Jim Herring up at the airport at 10:45 pm last night and driving him over to his house on the north end of Las Vegas, it was nearly 1:00 am by the time I got to bed. We both decided to allow some “sleep-in” time before getting together today. By the time Jim came over in the afternoon it was nearly 75-degrees and sunny without a cloud in the sky, so we decided to take our wine out to the pool and get a little sun. Jim and I even got a few shots of some Canada Geese in one of the golf course ponds next to our pool area. After a lovely couple of hours sitting around the pool, sipping wine and “chewing the fat” we came in and sat on our deck while I prepared some munchies. After our snacks we came inside and watched a Netflix CD, The Amazing Jonathan, a comic magician who has been playing Las Vegas for more than 12 years. We all agreed that he was quite entertaining. After our ‘show’, we headed out for dinner at the Claim Jumper, just up the street from where we live. Because it is part of the Landry’s chain, of which I am a member, we received immediate seating and avoided a 35 minute wait. They have a huge menu and all the food here is very good – even though the portions are more than any one person should be eating. I had some of the best baby back pork ribs I’ve had in ages. I had a $25 credit on my member card and Jim treated us to the rest. We all went home stuffed. Jim and I decided that we would hike the Historic Railroad Tunnel Trail over by the Hoover Dam tomorrow and decided to get some rest by calling it a night.

Journal Entry for Thursday, Feb 16th

Ravings by Linda J. Clarke “Ravings” are a series of essays written by my sister Linda J. Clarke. It was her hope that people who read them would gain a “tenderness and appreciation for the animals and plants who share this world with us.” For more on Linda and her book, “On A Planet Sailing West”, click here …Linda Clarke. The essay below is her latest writing.

Morning has broken – Like the first morning – Blackbird has spoken – Like the first bird Praise for the singing – Praise for the morning (Traditional Hymn) THE RABBIT Recently, near the North Pole, a few fossil hunters managed to dig out the complete skull of an aquatic reptile that haunted the oceans 155 million years ago. With eyes on top of its long head, immensely powerful jaws that could crush a Hummer, and hundreds of gigantic razor-sharp teeth, it was a creature of iconic fearsomeness estimated to be fifty feet long, "a crocodile on steroids". The world is still filled with unimaginably fearsome aggressors. A recently discovered colossal squid longer than a sperm whale and with grizzly bear-like claws on the end of its tentacles has been called the most terrible predator alive on the planet. Personally, I have a fondness for rabbits who do not horrify their neighbors and consequently have been unfairly labeled minor league players in the scheme of things. Because bunnies, ...

Journal Entry for Tuesday, Feb 14th

Valentine’s Day Brunch  at Ken & Connie's Having fasted since 8:00 last night, Connie and I were up early for an appointment to go get a blood test while Bonnie and Paul slept in. We were back before 9:00 and were starving. Connie grabbed a cup of coffee that Paul had made while I prepared us all a mid-morning brunch – scrambled eggs with onion and green pepper, sausage, raspberry Danish, garlic hash browns, English muffins, orange juice and coffee. Bonnie cleaned up the breakfast dishes while Paul and I did some computer “guy stuff”. Around 1:00 we drove out to Lake Mead and spent most of the afternoon taking pictures along the Lakeshore Scenic Drive. They were amazed at how vast looking the landscape views were. After returning to the house I made up some quacolmole dip which we had with crackers and cheese while we watched the 2012 Grammy Awards which we had recorded on Sunday. Afterwards I made us all banana splits. After another couple of hours talking, it was off to bed once again as they wanted to get an early start in the morning for their trip to Chris and Christina’s.

Journal Entry for Monday, Feb 13th

Bonnie & Paul Paul & Bonnie Today my sister Bonnie and her husband Paul arrived from Tahoe for a two night stay on their way to visit her son and daughter-in-law in Kansas. They were surprised to see that we had left up all of our Christmas decorations in order to provide them with the warm family feeling of a "holiday" homecoming . After sitting around talking most of the afternoon, we went out to TGI Friday’s for dinner. We hadn’t been there for years and were pleasantly reminded of how good it was. (Click either photo to enlarge) 10-oz Sirloin & Grilled Shrimp Scampi Three of us had the steak and shrimp dinners, while my sister had the Parmesan  crusted chicken dinner that looked quite good. With two 2-1 coupons, we ended up with $35 off the bill; such a deal. We then came home and sat around talking until nearly 10 pm, before we all headed off to bed as Connie and I had to be up by 7:00 am for an 8:00 am medical appointment in the morning.

Journal Entry for Friday, Feb 10th

Movie Review Here since last Sunday, Super Bowl day, Connie got to spend several evenings going out to dinner, seeing a stand-up comedy show and touring the Strip with her brother Rick, who was in town from Bayfield Colorado for some work related training. As he is flying back tomorrow morning, we decided to end the week by going to see a movie together. We chose the latest release, Safe House, starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds.

RELEASE: 2012; GENERE: Mystery & Suspense; Action & Adventure; RUN-TIME: 1 hr, 54 mins; RATED: R; STARRING: Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds; DIRECTED BY: Daniel Espinosa;

REVIEW: This is a fast paced, action packed thriller with a thin script and a lot of overly shot, choppily edited action scenes that cause the movie to appear “jerky”. We thought both Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds turned in strong performances, which actually save what would otherwise be just a third rate action movie. In spite of its flaws, you will not be bored. There are enough bullets and flying fists to deliver an action junkie’s bang for the buck. We were not sure it was the movie or the theater, but it was way too loud for all of us. Safe House is gritty, exciting, violent and pretty much predictable. We give it 2.5 Stars.

SYNOPSIS: Denzel Washington plays a dangerous renegade operative from the CIA, who comes back “onto the grid” after being on the run for more than a decade. When the South African safe house he's remanded to is attacked by mercenaries, Ryan Reynolds, a rookie operative who’s job it is to protect him, escapes with him. With all kinds of seedy operative, double agents and spies after Denzel, they must become allies to stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead.

Journal Entry for Tuesday, Feb 7th

Dinner At The Boarder Grill After giving Rick a day of rest, we drove to the Strip and picked him up at his hotel and drove to Mandalay Bay Casino & Resort to have dinner at the Boarder Grill. When Rick asked if we had eaten here before what I thought of it, I told him that we had been there several times and thought it was probably the best Mexican restaurant in town. He was not disappointed. We chose to eat out on their heated outside deck, which provided the perfect atmosphere for conversation over some  Mexican beers, and a delicious guacamole dip and chips. For the main course, both Rick and I had the Grilled Skirt Steak. Cooked to order it was served with a charred corn relish, black beans and handmade corn tortillas. Connie had the Shrimp Corn Tamale special that was absolutely delicious. After dinner we drove to the Bellagio to see the Chinese New Year’s exhibit at their Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Representing the “Year of the Dragon”, there were dozens of colorful dragon sculptures spread throughout the exhibit. Rick was impressed with its beauty and how colorful it was. Click here to view a picture collage of this exhibit … Year of the Dragon.

Journal Entry for Sunday, Feb 5th

Super Bowl XLVI Sunday We started the day by heading to the airport to pick up Rick, Connie’s brother, who was going to be in town for a week of training. After a “beer” stop, we headed to our place where we spent a couple of hours “catching up” on each others lives before settling down to watch some of the pre-game hype. For those not aware, the game was between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants. By the time the game started at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, we broke out our traditional Mexican salad, boneless chicken wings, crab cake appetizers, breaded mushrooms, and of course, don’t forget the beer. Needless to say, as we were rooting for Tom Brady and our New England Patriots, we had a very disappointing afternoon. We were defeated 21-17 by the Giants, who by the way, set a new record for the worst regular season record (9–7, win percentage of 56.3%) by a Super Bowl champion. The good news was that Connie got to share watching the game with her brother. After one last beer to drown out our sorrows, I drove Rick down to the Orleans Casino where he was staying for the week.

Journal Post for Wednesday, Feb 1st

A Birthday Meal To Remember Today a beautiful sunny day in the near 70’s, was Connie’s birthday and we decided to go to the Silverado Steakhouse, located inside the Southpoint Casino. One of our favorite steakhouses, we have actually been here several times. The Hand painted mural scenes and vintage photographs that line the walls above plush high backed booths provide an intimate meal in an elegant yet unpretentious setting. The main reason Connie chose to go here was to have their Lobster Bisque with Cognac. Not only is its presentation lovely, it is filled with enough lobster pieces that you are able to enjoy them right down to the last bite. We think it’s the best lobster bisque in Vegas. Next came a huge salad which was tossed tableside in an absolutely delicious house Vinaigrette. For the main course Connie had the “Filet Trio”; three Filet Mignon Medallions on toast points, each smothered with generous portions of Béarnaise, Roasted Garlic & Mushroom Sauces. I had the Shrimp Scampi which came with six of the largest shrimp I ever had served on a shrimp scampi dish. The large baked potatoes were split open and prepared tableside with a generous portion of sour cream, whipped butter and chives. Both meals were cooked to perfection and the portions were so large that neither of us could finish them. We had to skip some really tempting desserts and ask for a “doggy bag”.

Journal Entry for Monday, Jan 30th

Movie Review – Haywire

RELEASE: 2012; GENERE: Action/Adventure, Mystery/Suspense, Drama; RUN-TIME: 1 hr, 33 mins; RATED: R; STARRING: Gina Carano; Ewan McGregor and Michael Fassbender; DIRECTED BY: Steven Soderbergh;
  
REVIEW: In this often confusing and complicated action movie where you never seem to know what is going on, former mixed-martial-arts fighter Gina Carano, does a great job of punching out most of the cast and subduing the remainder with her signature move, a headlock applied with two muscular legs that's designed to choke the life out of you. Dodging bullets and attacks, she crosses continents, providing a canvas for Soderbergh to showcase her athleticism and fight skills. It is what it is; an action movie filled with swift, devastating action, almost to the point of being overdone. We give it 2.5 Stars.

SYNOPSIS: Directed by Steven Soderbergh this movie has a talented cast that includes Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton, Michael Douglas, Michael Angarano; and MMA superstar Gina Carano. As Mallory Kane, Gina Carano plays a demanding lead role that has her performing many of her own high-adrenaline stunts. In the movie, Mallory Kane is a highly trained operative who works for a government security contractor in some of the most dangerous corners of the world. After successfully completing a mission to free a Chinese journalist that was held hostage, she is double crossed and left for dead by someone close to her in her own agency. After the failed attempt on her life, and now the target of skilled assassins who seem to know her every move, Mallory must find out who tried to kill her in order to stay alive.

Journal Entry for Tuesday, Jan 24th

Movie Review – Contraband Maybe it’s just the time of year, but there seems to be a lot more films worth seeing lately. The thing is that we both like Mark Wahlberg, and even though some of the reviews we read were just so-so, we decided to go see this movie anyway.

RELEASE: 2012; GENERE: Mystery, Suspense, Action, Adventure; RUN-TIME: 1 hr, 49 mins; RATED: R; STARRING: Mark Wahlberg, Caleb Landry Jones, Giovanni Ribisi, Ben Foster; DIRECTED BY: Baltasar Kormákur;

REVIEW: The movie is based on a 2010 film from Iceland that bore the title, Reykjavik-Rotterdam. In spite of a worn out plot that the director tries to spruce up by adding some unsuspecting twists of betrayal, we wern not too impressed. I must admit that we were expecting a little more “action”. However, in spite of being somewhat contrived and predictable, we still felt that it provide an enjoyable hour and a half of escapism, which is basically why we go to the movies in the first place. We give it a weak 3-Stars.

SYNOPSIS: The storyline of this movie is one that has been repeated often. Chris Farraday, played by Mark Wahlberg, who turned straight after a long life of crime, is brought back into his old life of crime after his brother-in-law Andy, played by Caleb Landry Jones, botches a drug deal for a ruthless boss played by Giovanni Ribisi. Due to family ties and to settle Andy’s debt, Chris is forced back into doing what he did best - running contraband. He quickly assembles a crew with the help of his best friend, Sebastian, played by Ben Foster, for a smuggling run to Panama to bring back millions in counterfeit bills. Things quickly fall apart and with only hours to reach the cash, Chris must use his previous skills to navigate a treacherous criminal network of brutal drug lords, cops and hit men before his wife Kate, played by Kate Beckinsale, and sons get killed.

Journal Entry for Monday, Jan 16th

The Iron Lady

We both just love Meryl Streep and just couldn’t wait to see this movie. I think the last time we saw her was in her portrayal of Julia Child in the movie “Julia”, which we both loved. 

RELEASE: 2012; GENERE: Science-Fiction/Fantasy; RUN-TIME: 1 hr, 45 mins; RATED: PG; STARRING: Meryl Streep; DIRECTED BY: Phyllida Lloyd;
REVIEW: Overall, the story conveys power and the price that one pays for power, and provides an insightful portrait of an extraordinary and complex woman. To a point, the film is informative and educational and if you really came to see Meryl Streep, what can one say. The woman is an unbelievable actress who can play any role thrown at her. I also felt that Jim Broadbent, who played her husband, gave a worthy performance of his own. Without these two outstanding performances, the film itself would probably go down as just another average biopic that could be easily be forgotten, however, I don’t think that will be the case. On Meryl Streep’s performance alone, we give this film 4 Stars.

SYNOPSIS: The film takes place over 24 hours in the life of Margaret Thatcher, and is narrated through a series of flashbacks, depicting an elderly Thatcher remembering moments that shaped her and the effect her political life has had on her, while clearing out her dead husband's belongings. The story portrays her gradual struggle with old age and changing times, and the lack of power that comes with both of these things. Through the scope of old age, and afflicted by dementia, Lady Thatcher looks back on defining moments of her personal and professional life. The present-day Thatcher reminisces on these events with her (dead) husband (Denis Thatcher portrayed by Jim Broadbent). Her dementia results in the past and present becoming permeable, and she is shown having difficulty distinguishing between the two. Eventually, In the end she is shown finally packing up her husbands belongings and telling him it's his time to go. Denis finally leaves her, and having dealt with her grief properly, she begins to get on with her life.

Journal Entry for Saturday, Jan 14th

Patriots Win Big! After a winning afternoon at poker and slots at the Green Valley Ranch casino, Connie and I drove to the “M” Resort to pick up two comp'd dinners to go from their Vig Deli to eat over the AFC East divisional game between the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos. And what a game it was – one down and two to go. The ‘Brady Bunch’ demolished the highly touted Tim Tebow and the Bronco’s with a resounding score of 45-10, breaking 5 NFL playoff records in the process. I think Brady’s five touchdown passes put an end to all the “Tebowmania”. For the first time all season, their defense actually looked good and the whole team played like a well oiled machine. Now let’s just hope they can repeat the process twice more to win the Super Bowl. Oh, I'm sorry, are we bragging? Hell yes!

Journal Entry for Wednesday, Jan 11th

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows We decided to go see another movie today, yea, that’s twice in one week.  We really wanted to see “The Iron Lady” with Meryl Streep that opens Friday, but decided to wait until next week when the crowds will be smaller. We ended up choosing Sherlock Holms: A Game of Shadows. Even though most of the reviews by critics have only been so-so, many of those who have seen it have generally liked it and recommended going. I never expect a sequel to be as good as the original, and as a result, approached it with a guarded optimism even though I really like Robert Downey, Jr. and liked the original. Long story short, disappointed. Even though it made more sense I the end, I thought movie’s storyline was generally confusing and made little sense. Understanding that these types of movies are made to be ‘fun’, Holmes’ ability to foresee all kinds of events goes way beyond reality. Though the use of back and forth close-ups and slow motion photography was at times effective, its overuse made the end result appear ‘jerky’ and difficult to follow. I did enjoy the sets and period photography. Most of the good comedy scenes were in the previews; to be honest, I was expecting more. If it wasn't for the fact that we only have to pay $4 to see a movie, we would have been even more disappointed. Our advice, wait for the DVD. We give it a weak 3-Stars.

Journal Entry for Monday, Jan 9th

War Horse Today we decided to see the new movie War Horse by Stephen Spielberg. The main backdrop for this movie is a sweeping canvas of rural England during the time of World War I. It begins with the friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. They are forcefully parted when his father ends up selling him to the army to save the family farm. The story then follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of everyone he meets until it reaches an emotional climax in the heart of No Man's Land. His journey provides a vivid and graphic depiction of the First World War. The movie is technically superb with some great cinema photography and a series of superb war scenes. In the end it becomes an emotional drama that tugs at your heartstrings. Even though it's long (at 2-1/2 hours) and the premise is fantasy, it is extremely well made with some superb acting. Connie really liked it and wanted to give it 5-stars; I felt that a weak 4-stars would be more accurate. Let’s compromise and give it 4-1/2 Stars. After the movie we had dinner at Ventano’s, one of our favorite Italian restaurants. Connie had the Chicken Francese, battered chicken breasts coated in egg batter & parmesan Parmesan, lightly sauteed & topped with a light lemon butter sauce. I had the Dinner Special, sea scallops and shrimp on a bed of linguini tossed in a spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and garlic cream sauce. Both were outstanding with enough left over for tomorrow night’s dinner.

Journal Entry for Sunday, Jan 8th

No Luck To do well in almost any tournament, four things need to happen. First, you need to be dealt some playable hands. Second, when you do get some playable cards you need to get a ‘flop’ that compliments or improves your hand. Third, you need to have enough people in the pot calling you with good, but lesser hands, so that you are able to make some money. Lastly, all this needs to happen before the ‘blinds’ eat up your starting chips. Unfortunately,  none of those things happened today. Oh well, better luck next time. Actually, a week from Saturday I am in another free roll ($50,000) tournament at the “M” with about 300 players.

Journal Entry for Saturday, Jan 7th

GVR’s $300,000 Free Roll What is a ‘free roll’ tournament? It is a no buy-in tournament that you get into by earning a set number of hours playing live poker; in this case you had to play a minimum of 50 hours at the table to get you into January's big tournament, where the top cash will be $40,000 for first place. Today, the first day of play, you had to get by 2,200 players to end up with the 400 players in tomorrow’s final round of play. The good news is that I made it to day two and a minimum guarantee of $200. On Sunday, you have to beat 350 players to get beyond the minimum payout. Here’s hoping! After the tournament, Connie and I drove over to check on Jim Herrings' house and then to the Red Rock Casino for two free lunch buffets. From there we stopped at the "M" Casino and picked up two free dinners to go at the Vig Deli on m poker comps.

Journal Entry for Tuesday, Jan 3rd

Movie – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo The movie, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is the first film in Columbia Pictures' three-picture adaptation of Stieg Larsson's literary blockbuster The Millennium Trilogy. Directed by David Fincher and starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, the film is based on the first novel in the trilogy, which altogether have sold more than 50 million copies. Having just finished reading it, I couldn’t wait to see the movie, and I was not dissapointed. The commitment of Rooney Mara to this role was outstanding. Truly in my opinion, an Academy Award winning performance. I was also pleased at how well it paralleled the book. Even though there were several areas and storylines that were omitted, they actually had no real bearing on the overall story.  The basic storyline is about Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist that is freshly sentenced to jail for libeling a shady businessman. As he watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him he is presented an unexpected offer to resurrect his name by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch is that he must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With no other real options, he accepts and eventually enlists the help of a multipierced and tattooed Lisbeth Salander, an investigator who is a vulnerable superhacker. A misunderstood genius with a dark past and cache of authority issues, there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo. Even though this movie is nearly 3 hours in length, it moves along with a relatively quick pace, meaning that you really need to pay attention to everything that’s happening. With the warning that there are some graphic sex scenes and the fact that it is a little ‘dark’ in places, we give it 5-Stars.